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Jake Zebell is a technology leader with more than 20 years of experience in federal modernization, enterprise architecture, applied AI, and secure system delivery.

Douglas W. Elmendorf, Ph.D., is Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He served as Dean of the Kennedy School from 2016 to 2024 and was previously Director of the Congressional Budget Office from 2009 to 2015.Elmendorf has held senior economic positions with the Federal Reserve Board, the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, and the Treasury Department, where he was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy. He is a widely respected economist who has deep knowledge of many of Abt’s core research areas, including health care policy and approaches to increasing economic security.Elmendorf is the author of more than 30 publications and has testified before Congress on economic issues 50 times since 2005. 

Lauren Pittenger comes to Abt with more than 20 years of experience working in or as a consultant to federal government agencies. She has strong grounding in research and research-based consulting to government clients. She also has extensive experience leading and growing business, managing technical and scientific projects, and coaching and supporting account teams. She has served as a director at Guidehouse, scientific program manager at Booz Allen Hamilton, and lab manager at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She has worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Canadian Public Health Laboratory Network, the Gates Foundation and the Association of Public Health Laboratories.

Clark Abt, an engineer, environmentalist, entrepreneur, educator and social scientist, is the founder and past president of Abt Global Inc. He served as Abt’s President from 1965 to 1985, Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1986 to 2005, and was then elected Chairman Emeritus. He is the author of 10 books on social and economic policies and advanced technologies, as well as many articles.Clark Abt was born in Cologne, Germany, in 1929, and came to the United States in 1937. He entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a freshman in aeronautical engineering in 1947 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in general engineering in 1951. He then served four months in the Merchant Marine as an ordinary seaman, followed by a year at Johns Hopkins University as an English instructor, obtaining an M.A. from the Department of Writing, Speech and Drama for this master thesis, “A Year of Poems.”

Eric Reading leads major initiatives at the enterprise level for Abt Global, particularly in areas of strategic priority including digital transformation. He previously led Abt Global’s International Development Division, the largest division of the firm.

Jane Pepperall is a senior health professional with over 30 years of experience in global health policy development and in supporting national health sector development in the Pacific, Asia, and Africa. She has focused on strategy and investments to strengthen health systems and health financing. Jane worked for the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) (now the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) for 20 years, including health adviser postings in Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Pakistan, and the Pacific. More recently she has been providing health strategy, policy, and technical advice to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

Gary L. Perlin, the retired chief financial officer of Capital One Financial Corporation, is the non-executive chairman of Abt Global’s Board of Directors.Perlin has more than three decades of experience in senior finance roles in for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. As CFO of Capital One – one of the largest financial services companies in the nation – Perlin was responsible for the company’s overall financial management. He was named “Best Finance Company CFO” for four years by Institutional Investor magazine between 2007 and 2011.

Lakshmi Shyam-Sunder is the former Vice President and World Bank Group Chief Risk Officer (2014-2024). Lakshmi was previously Chief Financial Officer at the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and Director of Risk and Financial Policy at the International Finance Corporation both also part of the World Bank Group.

Baris Yener has more than 25 years of experience in executive leadership, growth strategy development, and organizational transformation. His business-development and project work has involved a wide range of clients, including the World Bank, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other private sector and federal agencies.As Chief Client Officer at Abt, Yener leads client strategy and growth to ensure the voice of the customer drives investment decisions, capability development, and market execution.